A laundry treating apparatus is an appliance to perform washing, drying, or both washing and drying. Examples of laundry treating apparatus include washing machines, dryers, and washing and drying machines.
Laundry treating apparatuses capable of drying clothing supply high-temperature air (hot air) to the clothing. These laundry treating apparatuses can be classified into an exhaust type and a circulation (or condensation) type depending on how the air flow is created.
The circulation type laundry treating apparatus removes moisture from the air discharged from the accommodation space containing the laundry (dehumidifies the air), heats the air, and then re-supplies the air to the accommodation space. The exhaust type laundry treating apparatus supplies heated air to the accommodation space, but discharges the air discharged from the accommodation space from the laundry treating apparatus instead of re-supplying the discharged air to the accommodation space.
In the case of a conventional laundry treating apparatus, fire breaks out (for a variety of reasons) in the laundry contained in the accommodation space, flames in the accommodation space may escape the laundry treating apparatus and spread to the room where the laundry treating apparatus is installed.
When the laundry surrounded by flames stays in the accommodation space for a long time, flammable gas produced during burning of the laundry may cause explosion. When explosion occurs in the accommodation space, flames in the accommodation space may be discharged from the laundry treating apparatus by the pressure of the explosion.